Edward J. López is Research Fellow at The Independent Institute, BB&T Distinguished Professor of Capitalism at Western Carolina University, and former President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education. He earned a B.S. in economics from Texas A&M University, and an M.A. and Ph.D in economics at George Mason University in 1997. Before joining the faculty of San Jose State University in the fall of 2005, he held appointments at the University of North Texas, San Jose State University and George Mason University, and he served as staff economist on the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

Professor López's main area of research is in public choice and law and economics, with emphases on empirical models of creative expression, technological innovation, voting, political ideology, and political institutions. Additional areas of research include antitrust regulation, property rights, campaign finance, term limits, and federal fiscal policy. Professor López has taught courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, law and economics, public finance, public choice, and mathematical economics.

His scholarly articles and reviews have appeared in Public Choice, Journal of Political Science, Review of Law & Economics, Political Research Quarterly, Southern Economic Journal, Social Science Quarterly, Eastern Economic Journal, and Review of Austrian Economics.